SF Studios takes on Britt-Marie Was Here

Nordic major SF Studios will produce the feature film Britt-Marie Was Here, based on yet another best-selling novel by Swedish author Fredrik Backman. Pernilla August will play the lead role and Tuva Novotny will direct this warm, funny and moving story about a woman who waited her whole life for her own to begin.

It’s time for Britt-Marie to hit the silver screen. Principal shooting of the film will take off in April. After having been directing for a few years, Pernilla August will now once again be in front of the camera, starring as the 63-year-old Britt-Marie. Tuva Novotny, who has previously directed episodes of the popular Norwegian TV series Dag and Lillyhammer as well as her first feature, the Norwegian TEA, will take the director’s chair.

When Britt-Marie, age 63, leaves her husband after 40 years of marriage, she is forced to reconsider her life and break up with old habits in order to meet the real world. Britt-Marie ends up in the miserable backwater town of Borg, where life seems to be over for the few people that are still around. However, there are bigger dreams in Borg as well and they breathe new life into Britt-Marie’s deeply hidden belief in a future. Perhaps there is a second chance in life – perhaps it’s never too late to start living.

- I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the lead. This part requires a super flexible and organic actress with a feeling for humor and drama. There is no one else with the same range as Pernilla, Tuva Novotny explains.

Just as the popular and moving novel, the film will be about the 63-year-old Britt-Marie who has to start over when her life is suddenly turned upside down. It is a warm drama comedy about getting - and taking - a second chance in life and about finding a new place to belong.

Pernilla August has a soft spot for her character:

- She is a timid, scared, shut-off and very insecure person who suddenly decides to exit a marriage – in order to find her true self. All of a sudden this frail little person dares letting herself be asked for a dance. Her journey is so incredibly beautiful that it makes me shiver, Pernilla August says.

Britt-Marie Was Here will be the second feature based on a hit novel by Fredrik Backman produced by SF Studios. The first one was Hannes Holm’s Oscar nominated A Man Called Ove with more than 1.7 million admissions in Sweden only.

SF Studios is still in the process of casting. The film is penned by Maria von Heland and Jonas Alarik (Lilja 4-Ever and Guldbagge-nominated for Ravens) will be the Director of Photography.

Britt-Marie Was Here is produced by SF Studios, producers Gustav Oldén and Nicklas Wikström-Nicastro. The film is a co-production with Film i Väst, TV4, Nordsvensk Filmunderhållning and Filmkameratene AS, with support from the Swedish and the Norwegian Film Institutes.

Britt-Marie Was Here will be distributed by SF Studios and is planned for a late 2018 theatrical release in all Nordic countries.